Letters to the Editor: Paddy Cosgrave has nothing to apologise for
'[Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave] should stand up in Lisbon next month and give the keynote speech... Paradoxically it would almost certainly guarantee the survival of his company well into the future.' File picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews
Kudos to Mick Clifford on a very balanced article — 'Don’t cry for Web Summit chief executive Paddy Cosgrave (Irish Examiner, October 26).
Paddy Cosgrave has nothing to apologise for. Indiscriminate carpet bombing of innocent little children and civilians is indeed a war crime. It is also the epitome of cowardice in the same way that the atrocities committed by Hamas are.
All those tech companies and individuals that are now returning their passes for the Web Summit in Lisbon next month are the ones that should be cancelled. And that includes the Collinson brothers Irish owned Stripe.
The former CEO should stand up in Lisbon next month and give the keynote speech. The world would thank him for it. And paradoxically it would almost certainly guarantee the survival of his company well into the future.
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, specifies that ambassadors are diplomats of the highest rank, formally representing their head of state, with plenipotentiary powers to represent their government. The role of ambassadors in times of peace tends to be symbolic, dealing with matters of economics, culture, visas, etc.
The ambassadors of these countries are vital, especially if efforts are being made to end the conflicts, but also to help protect Ireland’s interests and the interests of Irish citizens who may be endangered by the conflicts.
Ambassadors are the most important element in the international diplomatic system and provide a vital communications system in times of crises.
‘Meeting jaw-to-jaw is better than war.’
Last Saturday, October 21, many thousands of people took to the streets in Dublin and all over Ireland in a huge show of deep solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The message is very clear: There must be an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s genocidal bombardment, siege, and ethnic cleansing of the people in Gaza; humanitarian aid must be allowed in; and there must be protection for the people there.
As we witness the forced displacement of at least 1m people, the majority of whom are refugees, the murder of at least 6,000 Palestinians, over 2,360 of them children (horrifically, these numbers go out of date by the minute), the wanton destruction of every facet of life in Gaza, from health to education to the most basic needs of water, fuel, electricity, and food, we cannot stand by.
We demand that the Irish government push at EU and UN level for an immediate ceasefire, and that it back up words with meaningful action, by enacting the Occupied Territories Bill and the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill.
We call for everyone to support the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) of Israel.
History will not be kind to those who did not use their power and influence at this crucial moment to try to stop this unfolding genocide.
We stand by the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, justice, equality and return, and we demand our government does too. This is an emergency requiring immediate action to stop the slaughter.
I was in Jordan, the West Bank, and Israel for 16 days just before lockdown and enjoyed my stay in each place.
I have wondered how come the Israeli Irgun in 1947/48 were described by the western powers as freedom fighters even as they pulled people off buses and murdered them, herded Palestinians into the Port of Haifa and then dropped barrel bombs on them from the air and drove them from their lands. The Irgun at that time were armed by the Russian communist party.
The Palestinians were not responsible for the Holocaust.
Ido not agree with the atrocities carried out by Hamas and believe that the majority of the Palestinian population want peace to live in the land of their fathers.
On the agenda for this week’s Climate Summit 2023, of all the topics that were to be discussed, one important subject — Earth’s human population explosion — got no mention at all.
I realise it would not be ‘politically correct’ raising an issue that, it cannot be denied, is having a huge impact on resources of the Earth, relating to food production, living space, biodiversity impact, migration, and so on.
However, surely it is time to consider if there has to be a limit on the numbers of people this small planet can sustain?
It seems many of those outspoken critics are somewhat like the suicidal lemmings... determined to proceed towards the mass elimination of all the world’s creatures — in the first instance the wild animals, followed by remnants of humanity.
With the sad passing of Bobby Charlton, the link from Munich and the flat cap working class man to the overpaid, tattooed, indulged players of today is now gone.
He was all those things we tend to make fun of now: He was courteous, polite, charming, and well-spoken.
In more innocent times he became everything that was upright and decent about a truly great sportsman.
